What was so great about JFK?

A passionate Deckard response in 3, 2, 1...

 

tupac, elvis, biggie, jimi, cobain.

 

LOL!

No, I'll wait until I've seen enough negative things posted about the man, so I'll have a basis for a response. Hopefully, some folks will have good things to say about Jack Kennedy, but that doesn't seem to be in vogue these days. I would wager that I'm the only member of the BBS to have seen him give a speech in person. Believe me, that would influence anyone.



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As soon as he was president he was faced with some of the most intense situations in human history. Full-scale nuclear war with thermo nukes was a serious possibility. Fusion bombs a thousand times more powerful than the Hiroshima detonation were fully involved in the battle plan with Russia.

Then he was assassinated in a bizarre situation adding to the mystique.

If he had served his entire term we might think of Kennedy in an entirely different light, but of course we will never know. Without a doubt there was something special about the man that is a key part of the great individuals of our time/ history.

 

i was having this discussion the other day. is there any doubt that if JFK and RFK both were not gunned down...RFK would have emerged as a much better president?

i'd love to hear some old timers on this. Deckard

 

Oddly, that is just about exactly what the people who saw Hitler speak said.

 

Absolutely. Bobby Kennedy was a man on the cusp of greatness. I have no doubt that he would have surpassed his brother. Sadly, I was watching him on TV late at night, following the returns in the California primary (I said I've always been a political junkie), and saw him get shot. I can't tell you how I felt. I will say that I was in tears, and would have killed the man who did it, if I had had the chance at the time. The feeling was indescribable. It was just too much.



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An odd statement to make, in this context.



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The one at Rice University where he proposed putting a man on the moon?

 

That was it.



Keep D&D Civil.

 

you just wanted to pimp rice didn't you.

ps: deck you have to share more about your thoughts on jfk/rfk. i always enjoy reading them.

 

I am one of those who believes that if JFK had served his full term he might've gone down as a mediocre if not a very poor president. If you look at his legislative accomplishments he only had one major one, getting a large tax cut passed. The space program had been started under Eisenhower and many of his other domestic programs never got very far while he was in office and it took LBJ to see them through.

Many have praised JFK's foreign policy but if you look at its not that impressive. The Cuban Missile Crisis is held up as his brightest moment but it was far from a strategic victory since it cost the US missile positions in Turkey. Further the Cuban Missile Crisis in many ways was created by JFK's own reckless policy in regard to Cuba particularly the failed Bay of Pigs invasion. The Cubans and Soviets rightly had a reason to fear a US invasion of Cuba after the Bay of Pigs so it shouldn't have come as a surprise they were putting in missile batteries there. At the same time the blockade of Cuba was an act of war illegal under international law. Kruschev probably deserves more credit for stopping WWIII for not being drawn into war over such a provocation than JFK for enacting the blockade. Anyway looking at it objectively the Soviets gained more from the Cuban Missile Crisis since they just had to not deploy missile batteries in Cuba while existing US ones were removed from Turkey.

Another area that JFK seems to get a remarkable pass from history is in regard to Vietnam. US involvement in Vietnam started under Eisenhower but JFK not only continued it but also increased the number of US advisors so by the time LBJ took office there were 16,000 US military advisors in Vietnam. Also under JFK's Admin. Ngo Diem the prime minister of South Vietnam was overthrown by a military coup that had tacit US support. Vietnam was primarily LBJ's war but as LBJ said himself he felt obligated to carry on JFK's policies and those included Vietnam. Some believe that JFK actually intended to withdraw the US from Vietnam, including conspiracy theorists who believe JFK was assasinated because he had a secret withdrawal plan what was opposed by the military and LBJ. There is no evidence though that JFK intended to withdraw from Vietnam considering that he too was an eager cold warrior and the fact that LBJ kept on Kennedy's cabinet and advisors, including McNamara the architect of the war, shows that the JFK Admin. likely had no intention of withdrawl and probably would've continued escalating.

IMO JFK's greatness was mostly a myth that is due to a few things. First he was a very charismatic figure, extremely handsome, extremely articulate, a wife who was the paragon of elegance, a heroic personal story, family name and provided a huge contrast to the stogy Eisenhowers. He also came to office at a time when there was a great sense of optimism as the US began to reach its height as economic and military superpower. Not to forget to mention a time when the press wasn't willing to look into the private lives of politicians. JFK both looked the part and and was in office at the time that Americans were willing to believe in a new Camelot. By and far though JFK's tragic death played a huge role in the JFK myth. His death shook the country in a way that probably no event had until 9/11. Also he died at a time before dissatisfaction with his Admin had really started to show and also caused a lot of the problems with his Admin to be overlooked. If I recall correctly the very reason JFK was in Dallas on Nov. 23rd 1963 was a political trip to help shore up public opinion on his Admin.. What also shouldn't be overlooked was that LBJ being the consumate master politician also used JFK's death as a political tool to get his legislation passed. So while JFK is credited with things like civil rights advances it was LBJ that actually got them passed.

 

why is he called jack if his name is john? never understood that, and when i first heard the "i know jack kennedy" line (on a megadeth song noless) i thought there was a 3rd kennedy that was around that i had never heard of

 

He banged Marilyn Monroe. What else do you want?

 

he's parodied on the simpsons as mayor quimby.

 

then who is bumble bee man?

 

do you also ask who the hell bobby kennedy is?

i think his given name is John, but his fellas like his brother Bobby, whos given name is Robert, calls him that.

 

But you had to be between 6 and 12 years old? I think I was 8 when he was assasinated. They sent us home from school and my mother (who cared nothing about politics) was crying her eyes out. He was a symbol of youth and vigor that was cut down prematurely. He didn't have a chance to do much really....

 

no, i was able to get bobby out of robert, same as if he had been called robbie.... but jack?

i guess the bigger insult would be ol dan reffering to him as jack as if he was all chummy with him, when in actuality he wasn't?

and to AntiSonic, i agree -